Sammy Lee is reported to have left Liverpool's backroom staff. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian

Sammy Lee has left Liverpool, just over three years after returning to the Anfield club as assistant manager.

Reports of the immensely popular 52-year-old assistant manager's exit began circulating on Tuesday night and have not been denied by the club. The reasons behind this parting of the ways remain unclear, although Steve Clarke's arrival last season as Kenny Dalglish's first-team coach diminished Lee's influence. Clarke is now expected to become Dalglish's No2.

While it has been suggested that Lee could rejoin West Ham United's Sam Allardyce – whom he previously assisted at Bolton Wanderers – this appears unlikely. Allardyce boasts a strong back room at Upton Park but, perhaps more significantly, there are appreciable differences in the pair's playing philosophies.

Lee's attempts to get Bolton playing a more fluent passing game when he briefly succeeded Allardyce as manager at the Reebok in 2007 contributed to his dismissal. He swiftly returned to Anfield where his glorious playing career had been followed by life in various coaching guises working under Graeme Souness, Roy Evans and Gérard Houllier.

Brought back to Liverpool in 2008 by Rafael Benítez, Lee – who had previously left his spiritual home to work as a full-time member of the England coaching staff before joining Allardyce at Bolton – was kept in the post by Roy Hodgson, but effectively pushed down the hierarchy once Dalglish recruited Clarke.